Jeff Childress is the manager of JLK Express, located at 1230 Main Street in Gardendale. The business is owned by Jeff Hyde.

JLK Express, located at 1230 Main Street in Gardendale, is owned by Jeff Hyde and managed by Jeff Childress.

The business can be reached at 631-2405.

Though Hyde is the owner, Childress is usually the man behind the counter at JLK Express. The business opened in August 2008.

“I’m the manager because I was the first one hired,” he said. “I was out of work and Jeff [Hyde] called me one day and asked to meet with me. Now here I am more than a year later.”

A Gardendale native, Childress graduated from Gardendale High School in 1974. His wife Debbie graduated the following year. The couple has one son, Jaret, who started Bragg Middle School this year.

Childress shared the following about the business:



• What services / products do you provide? “Our biggest thing is shipping, whether it’s FedEx or UPS. We have packing materials and boxes. You can bring it here boxed up, or we can box it for you. Christmas is coming up, so we’re hoping to help Santa along. We also do copying and faxing and if you need to get on the internet, we have internet rental time. I’m a notary public, so we can also notarize.”



• What’s been your greatest success as a business? “We treat packages as if they were our own, not just throw it in a box. We take pride in making sure what you have gets to where it’s going and in the condition it was sent in. That’s what we strive to do every time.”



• What’s the greatest joy of being the manager of a business? “I’ve been in Gardendale all my life, but I’ve met a whole lot of new people and I’ve been able to help them out. I really thank the Gardendale community for supporting us in the time we’ve been open.”



• Is your line of working something you’d recommend to someone else? “Yeah, it’s not a bad line of work. Putting tape on boxes, as I like to say.”



• What future plans do you have for the business? “We’re starting up an eBay consignment shop and we’re in the process of getting more signs up to make ourselves more visible. We also plan to add to our office supplies.”



• Why should someone shop with you or use your services over a competitor? “We’re offering the service locally, so you don’t have to go across town. You can get the same professional service with a family atmosphere. We live in Gardendale and we want to be able to serve this community and do it at a reasonable price.”